1
LEXI
SOMEWHERE IN SCOTLAND
We ran across an open field barely glowing in the moonlight. There were a few small buildings dark against the sky, not a light to be seen, and we ran into the woods, crashing noisily through dense underbrush. It got very dark really fast, and the bushes clawed at the skin on my legs. I gripped Torin’s hand tightly as he led me into a deep, dark forest.
We ran until it seemed like we had gone a good distance.
I could make out his dark form, barely, and I was panting heavily.
He turned to look back over his shoulder. “Och, I think we are safe.”
“Good,” I let go of his hand to push my hair from my face and adjust the cloak on my shoulders, but had a second where I thought,what if he disappears in the dark?I grasped his hand again and did as I always did, closed my eyes. If I tried to ‘see’ I would begin to panic, so instead I stopped trying. I held his hand and tried to calm my breathing.
I could hear him turn his head to look around, and then felt his hand shift as he turned to watch behind us.
Panting, I asked, “What are we going to do?”
“We need tae run, but… I need tae determine our route, and…” He turned again. “…och nae, I need m’broadsword.”
“We can’t go back there.”
“I ken, tis too dangerous.”
I felt him shift and turn.
Then he put a hand on each of my shoulders. “Are ye warm enough?”
“Yeah, the run helped, the panic heated me right up. Are we far enough away?”
“Nae, we haena gone far enough?—”
“Have you figured out which way we should go?”
He adjusted the cloak on my shoulders. “I need ye tae sit down here.”
I opened my eyes. “What…why?”
“Ye will wait right here, while I go back for my sword and dirk.”
“But… no, what do you mean?”
While I asked this, his strong hands sort of pushed and guided me down on my ass, sitting on the forest floor. “What is happening… you’re going back?”
He crouched in front of me, his hands still on my shoulders, pulling the cloak tight around me. “Aye… lean back on the tree.”
I did as I was told. “Are you leaving me?”
“Nae, I am goin’ back for m’sword, without it I canna keep ye safe.”
I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything. My heart pounded in my chest. My breathing was so loud it made it hard to think. But...he was leaving me alone here, that much I knew.
“You said you wouldn’t leave me, and now you’re leaving me in the woods?”
He looked back over his shoulder. “Tis right there — can ye see the sky, Princess?”
I shook my head. “I see nothing.” The lump in my throat caught my words. “You can’t leave me, you promised.”
